What Australia’s tech leaders think of DeepSeek’s AI

Prominent technology chiefs offer their views on the sudden rise of DeepSeek: it’s a game changer, competition is good and expect more market gyrations.

AirTrunk’s Robin Khuda, Telstra’s Vicki Brady and Google’s Mel Silva give their views on the impact of DeepSeek. Bethany Rae

Paul Smith, Joshua Peach and Amelia McGuire

Jan 29, 2025 – 4.23pm

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Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek has gone from academic paper to global phenomenon at a pace not seen since late 2022, when its US rival OpenAI launched ChatGPT.

DeepSeek’s R-1 AI model introduced many people to the concept of AI reasoning and sent investors scrambling to understand how it could have been built for so much less than the US and European models.

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Paul SmithTechnology editorPaul Smith edits the technology coverage and has been a leading writer on the sector for 20 years. He covers big tech, business use of tech, the fast-growing Australian tech industry and start-ups, telecommunications and national innovation policy.

Joshua PeachMarkets reporterJoshua Peach is a data journalist at The Australian Financial Review

Amelia McGuireBusiness reporterAmelia McGuire covers technology from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the aviation, tourism and gambling reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.